On Professional Informatical Action

Abstract

Our patterns of thinking and acting (as “computer professionals”) must be out in the open, so as to expose informatical action to criticism by the society as a whole. We are responsible for the provision of knowledge about these patterns. This article criticizes the (defining) use of the trait approach and the functional approach to “profession” in the debate on professionalization in the field of computer science (informatics). An attempt is made to show how informatical action might be better understood by examining the concept of profession in a multidimensional approach, sensitive towards the various perspectives. For this purpose it becomes necessary to examine first of all the various perspectives on the concept “profession” and secondly the debates on professionalization in other disciplines.